Tubular fabric straightener and method



April 11, 1950 L. G. BLUMENBUM i-:TAL 2,503,705

TUBULAR FABRIC STRAIGHTENER AND METHOD Filed Aug. 12, 1948 IW/veno 21s:

Patented Apr. 11, 1950 UNITED' STATES PATENT.. OFFICE* k'rumana FABROSSIGHTENER l METHO Louis G. Blumenbaum, Cral/:stomv and Roland E. Langlois, West Warwick, R. I., assignors to Draper Brothers Company, Canton, Mass., acorporation of Massachusetts Appiicationnugust 12,1948, serialNn. 43,847 i 6 Claims. vl

- Our present invention relates to the processing. of knit or other tubular fabric. It aims more particularly to provide new and improved methods and apparatus for lineally rectifying a longitudi-v nal-ly travelling fabric tube..

In thevdrawings illustrating by Way of exampleone. embodiment of apparatus according to the invention and whereby the method. thereof may bel practiced:

- Figs. 1 and 2 arerespecti-Vely a plan and a front elevation; and

Fig. 3 schematically represents the fabric straightening action of the apparatus of Figs. 1 and 2 and as had by the method hereof.

The invention is applicable in the handling of any flexible tubular fabric, whether or not fabricated in such form, including those woven or otherwise fashioned as webs andv having the longitudinal edges joined for processing in the tubular state. A main application cf the invention however is for circular knit fabrics of inderlnite length, such as jersey goods, lining materials and the like.

Such tubular fabric may be made in lengths up to a'hundred yards orr more. Generally heretofore each length, or a number of shorter pieces secured together endwise have been handled as an individual batch. Such batch coming from the kier or dyeing apparatus is placed in. a cen-v trifuge for removal of free liquid and is delivered therefrom as a still4 wet fabric mass or batch of twisted fabric piled promiscuously on itself. This wet mass has customarily heretofore been pulled manually onto a long drum or pipe from which it is subsequently drawn off in open tubular form for drying. These several operati-ons with separate fabric batches have involved a corresponding number of independent operations, with the fabric batch intermediately trucked or transported from one location to another for the different batch treatment steps.

The apparatus and methods here concerned represent one phase of What may be' a substan tially` continuousprocessing of the tubular fabric as received from the rough-drying centrifuge and in the course of` which the fabric is travelled uninterruptedly to and` through drying., slitting and packaging. stagesv including if desired the applicaf tion of' aflongitudinai zone of stifenine to present non-curling edges for the resultant web.

In the earlier batch processing the tubular fabric mass after centrifuging has sometimes been passed through a detwisting or general feed-out device` which presents the fabric tubing in longi tudinal extension'. This. facilitates manual load ing onto the pipes and gives the fabric a. rough alignment, with remaining. twist of as muchas or more deviation in one lateral. direction or the other around the. tube axisV That is, any given. longitudinal WaleI may stray to one side or the other for as. much as one-half twist about the fabric tube... For straightening purposes and for subsequent use in denmg a line for slitting the fabric tubing usually has a longitudinal mark such as provided by a missing pick` or an. omitted needle Wala. as represented at Min Fig. 3 of the accompanying drawings.

In accordance with the method and apparatus of the present invention the more or less wet roughly longitudinally ext-ending fabric tube is lineally rectied so that. in further continuous or other travehor example., asv to the anti-curl sti ener applying,` drying and slitting phases, the tube is more accurately approached toa condition of true alignment. Any remaining lateral devia may bel performed fully automatically or other-.-

wise under a sensi? ive tracking control.

Referring now tothe drawings in more detail,

the illustrative apparatus comp-rises la frame org,

support l` including brackets 5, 5- spaced for longitudinal travel between them by the fabric tube of maximum width inthe flattened tubular form. The frameV 4 serves to locate a generally flat spreader Ill adapted to be received and heated within the encompassing longitudinally travelling, substantially iiat fabric tube. Aj

The spreader' l0 as shown is of open form comprising a peripheral rodor wire of sufficient rigid-ity to be. self-supporting It has a closed substantially half-round frontor receiving end Il, intermediate side portions I2 and inturned rear portions ,|35 at ,the delivering end. At about, midlength of theA side portions. the spreader-*lll has transversely aligned bearing collars {drierpivotal'ly supporting iton a floating cross shaft designated generally at l5.

In the illustrated embodiment this floating shaft |5 comprises two parts I6, |'I in axial line and mutually telescoped with capacity for relative axial turning of one shaft part with respect to the other. At the opposite ends of the floating shaft unit l5 are forked bearers I8, I9 for inner fabric-engaging wheels 29, 2| at the respective sides of the spreader. These inner Wheels are journalled in the forks I8, I9 as at 22, 23 on axes radial of the floating shaft I5.

The spreader including the cross shaft |5 and the marginal wheels 29, 2| constitutes a floating unit receivable inside the fabric tube without mechanical support other than through the fabric travelling between the respective inner wheels 29, 2| and adjoining pairs of outer wheels 24, 25 at the opposite longitudinal margins of the fabric tube. The wheels in each outer pair 24 and 25 are spaced lengthwise of the fabric and are rotatably mounted as `at 26, 21 on carrier heads 28, 29, one at each side of the fabric tube.

These carriers or heads 28, 29 are shown as yoke-shaped plates held on hubs 28', 29' whereby they are rotatably supported in mutual alignment transversely of the fabric path and in axial line With the floating shaft I5. Such angularly adjustable or swivelling support for the carriers 28, 29 is herein provided by axially aligned shafts 39 and 3| journalled on the brackets 5, 5 at the respective sides of the frame 4, the opposed inner portions of the shafts presenting the carriers in vthe appropriate spaced relation at the opposite sides of the fabric path.

The inner and outer wheels 29, 24 and 2|, 25 of each set are disposed with the respective single wheels 29 and 2| tangential to each of the paired wheels 24, 24 and 25, 25 of the corresponding set. The single wheels may be either internal or external to the fabric tube, with the paired wheels at the opposite face of the fabric and additional similar wheels may be provided. Further, the wheels or rotary discs of each set are peripherally shaped to have a concave-convex intertting relation at the rims. The wheels at one face of the fabric, herein the inner wheels 29, 2|, have a protuberant rounded rim while those at the other fabric face, herein the outer wheel pairs 24, 24 and 25, 25 are correspondingly peripherally grooved. The wheel bearings 22, 26 and 23, 21 in each set are located so that in normal operating condition the rim portions of the corresponding wheels interi-lt in a tongue and groove relation as viewed in axial section; see particularly Figs. 2 and 3. Thus the inner and outer wheels of each set are at all times held in a common plane of rotation.

As indicated in Fig. 3 the fabric at the oppo site marginal portions of the flattened fabric tube travels in gripping relation between vthe inner and outer wheels of each set. The wheels are maintained in rotative engagement with the fabric as by inherent resiliency of the bent spreader element |9 or by appropriate spring means tending to extend the shaft portions I5, I1 or urging the inner wheels 29 and 2| in the outward direction.

In accordance with the invention means is provided for unitarily tilting the rotational planes of the two wheel sets simultaneously through equal angles but in opposite directions. AThis tilting or swivelling actio'n'takes place about the common axis of the floating shaft I5 and of the external spaced shafts 39, 3|of the wheel carrier l the wheel carriers 28, 29 and the corresponding outer wheel pairs 24, 25 and 25, 25 thereof are correspondingly angularly tilted. By reason of the interfitting rim relation the inner wheels 29 and 2| tilt coplanarly with the corresponding outer pairs.

In order simultaneously to afford an angularly corresponding but opposite tilting action for the two wheel sets at the opposite longitudinal edge of the fabric tube said shafts 39, 3| at the respective sides are interconnected for equal but opposite turning, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3. As shown this is accomplished by a jack shaft 35 journalled at its opposite ends on the brackets 5, 5 and paralleling the floating shaft I5 and the outer shafts 30, 3|. This jack shaft 35 is geared v at the two ends to the corresponding shafts 39, 3|

in one-to-one relation but with a different number of gears at the respective ends whereby the direction of turning is reversed. By way of eX- ample, noting particularly Fig. 2, the shaft 39 and the adjacent end of the jack shaft 35 have respectively fast thereon a pair of meshing gears 36, 31. At the other end, the jack shaft 35 is geared to the wheel-carrier shaft 3| by an odd number of gears including a gear 38 fast on the jack shaft, an intermediate gear 39 on the adjacent bracket 5 and a third gear 49 fast on shaft 3|. Accordingly any turning movement imparted to the shaft 39 or 3| at one side of the fabric tube is simultaneously transmitted to the opposite shaft in the same degree but in the opposite directional sense.

Either or both shafts 39, 3| or extensions thereof are adapted to receive turning means. The turning moment may be applied to either shaft and is correspondingly transmitted to the other.

For some applications the straightening spreader' apparatus of the invention may be manually controlled by an attendant who observes some longitudinal mark carried by the travelling fabric tube such as a missing pick or omitted needle Wale as previously mentioned and designated at M in Fig. 3. For such uses and in any instance as alternatively available equipment, one or both' of the shafts 39, 3| or extensions thereof are provided with a hand wheel or like manual operating member. For convenience dual selective operation from either side of the fabric path is preferred, as indicated by the extensions of both shafts in Figs. 1 and 2. In other instances and, particularly where the disclosed straightener de-' vice forms a unit of a larger apparatus afford-'` ing semi-automatic or full-automatic continuous processing for tubular fabrics, one of the shafts 30 or 3| is operatively connected by gearing or otherwise with a power source. Such power drive may be subject to operator control or may be automatically controlled by optical and electronic or other means whereby the longitudinal mark upon the fabric tube is tracked and the corrective wheel-tilting action applied accordingly.

As previously mentioned the advancing fabric' tube before passing over the spreader |9 has received a general detwisting, such that the observa- 1 tion mark or line-up formation M will rarely de`l viate to one vside or the other so much as around the tube.

the distance around the tube.

Ordinarily the lateral devia A tion will not be more than about one quarterV In other wordsg'l the follower mark M von the fabric approachingv the apparatus *.will appear somewhere across thel top face of the fabric as viewed in Fig. 3, lie-1- tween the travelling tube'margins engaged the respective wheel sets. Accordingly the-maxi- 'a mum corrective tilting of the wheel sets ordinarily will not substantially exceed about 90 and usually'will not be more than. about 45 or less.

The straightening effect upon the travelling fabric tube will readily be apparent from a consideration of theA .schematic4 Fig.- 3. in connection with the apparatus of Figs. l and 2. Therein at the approaching portion of the fabric (nearer the viewer in Fig. 3) the longitudinal Vmarking line M adjacent the central arrow at the lower portion of the figure is off-center toward theleft, This calls for rectification by skewing the tube in a clockwise direction thereby to shift'themark M to a more central position, so as to direct the upper section of the fabric toward the right in Fig. 3. Accordingly the left-hand wheel set 2D, 24 has been tilted downwardly toward the'viewer While the opposite wheel `set 2 I, 25 has been vequally tilted in the opposite direction, downwardly away from the viewer. The result is an upward thrusting action toward the right by the lefthand wheel set and a corresponding downward pulling and take-over action in the same direction by the oppositely tilted wheelv set at the right in Fig. 2. The result is a corrective lateral shifting and rfa-alignment of the fabric, taking the observing line M to a central location as the fabric tube passes oi from the spreader lll.

For purposes of extreme accuracy of alignment, as for example in our copending application identified, the fabric may be conducted past further automatic or other straightener means operating within a narrower lateral range. Depending however upon the proportioning of the several factors involved including the speed of travel of the fabric tube, the type of observation control and the degree of initial deviation, the apparatus and method of the present invention are adap-ted to remove lateral deviations of the fabric tube about its axis to such extent that a mark line such as M leaving the spreader l will be confined within a relatively narrow central zone of not more than about 5,to lil" to one side or the other of the center line of the path.

It will be understood that our invention, either as to method or means, is not limited to the exemplary embodiment or steps herein illustrated or described, and we set forth its scope in our following claims.

We claim:

l. In the proces-sing of tubular fabric, the method'of advancing and lineally rectifying the fabric tube which comprises causing the fabric to travel longitudinally in relatively flat tubular form, rotatively lineally contacting the inner and outer faces of the fabric at each of a plurality of opposed locations spaced transversely across the fabric tube, and in the event of lateral deviation of the fabric oppositely tilting the lines of contact through equal angles simultaneously at such locations and thereby exerting a transverse unidirectional straightening action on the travelling fabric tube.

2. In the processing of tubular fabric, the method of advancing and lineally rectifying the fabric tube which comprises causing the fabric to travel longitudinally in relatively flat tubular form, rotatively lineally contacting the inner and outer faces of the fabric at each of two locations spaced diametrally across the fabric tube, and equi-angularly tilting the fabric contact lines oppositely at the two locations, in .a given direction to counteract lateral deviation of the fabric in one sense and inthe reverse direction for oppo-v site deviation. 1

3*. Processing apparatus` for indefinite lengths of fabric-tubes comprising a generally flat floating spreader, sets of inner and outer fabric-engaging wheels` in concave-convex rim relation at dia` metrally opposite. portions.v of a fabric tube passing between them, theinner-wheels rotatably cara ried with theI spreader, the outer wheels of the corresponding set having carriers whereon they are rotatable coplanarly with the inner wheels, means mounting the carrier to turn. about a come mon-axis defining said diametrally opposite portions` of the fabric tube, and means for oppositely and equally turning the carriers on said axis thereby correspondingly to reversely tilt the planes of rotation 4of the wheel sets.

4. Straightening spreader apparatus for tubular fabric comprising a frame, wheel carrier heads thereon at opposite sides of a longitudinally travelling fabric tube and mounted to swivel about a common axis transverse to the fabric path, a generally flat floating spreader receivable within the travelling fabric tube, inner fabric-engaging wheels at the opposite lateral margins of the spreader and supported with it to rotate in the plane thereof and to swivel bodily about said common axis of the carrier heads, outer fabric-engaging wheels rotatable on the carrier heads coplanarly with and in fabric-feeding relation to the inner wheels, and operative connections between the carrier heads for simultaneously adjusting them and the corresponding wheels rotatively about the common axis through equal angles and in opposite directions thereby to exert a conjoint transverse unidirectional straightening action on the travelling fabric tube.

5. Straightening spreader apparatus for a longitudinally travelling fabric tube, comprising a support, a pair of axially aligned shafts journalled on the support at opposite sides of the fabric path, wheel carrier heads fast on the opposed ends of the shafts, a spreader to be encompassed by the travelling fabric tube, inner wheels carried at the sides of the spreader so as to swivel on a common axis in line with said shafts and to rotate in planes radial thereof, outer wheels rotatably disposed on the carrier heads on axes paralleling the rotational axes of the adjacent inner wheels, the inner and outer wheels at the respective sides of the spreader having mutual concavo-convex rim engagement with the inner and outer faces of the fabric tube, turning means for one of the shafts, and gearing connections between said shafts to effectequal and opposite turning of the other shaft thereby simultaneously to shift the rotational planes of the wheels at the respective sides of the fabric equally and in opposite directions.

6. Spreading and straightening apparatus for tubular fabric comprising an opening spreader receivable within and defining a longitudinal path for the fabric tube, a transverse two-part floating shaft laterally supporting the spreader. adjacent ends yof the shaft parts being mutually telescoped with capacity for relative axial turning, sets of fabric-engaging wheels at the opposite ends of the floating shaft, each wheel set including an inner wheel supported on the floating shaft to swivel about the axis thereof and to rotate on an axis radial thereto, and each wheel set further including a head carrying a pair of outer wheels rotatable in the saine plane with the inner wheel of the set, the inner and outer wheels of each set adapted to pass the fabric between 7 them and having the rimsconcavo-convexly interengaged to maintain their mutual coplanar relation, a supporting frame, axially spaced shafts j ournalled on the frame in line with each other and with the oating shaft, said carrying heads for the outer Wheel pairs mounted `on the respective spaced shafts, means to turn one of said spaced shafts thereby to tilt the adjacent wheel setabout the shaft axis, and gearing connections between said spaced shafts for simultaneously 10 oppositely and equally tiltingthe other wheel set about the same axis.

LOUIS G. BLUMENBAUM. ROLAND E. LANGLOIS.

Name Date Number Cohn Feb. 20, 1940 

